A Rockin' River Ensemble

What separates the men from the boys is the price of their toys. Nothing is more rewarding than rolling up to your favorite lake or river destination with an eye-catching custom truck and pulling an all-out aquatic hot rod set up for high-speed H2O fun. This is a reality Dean Sears of Moorpark, California, knows all too well as the title holder to the flame-licked, sky-scraping Chevy HD and custom Conquest powerboat stretching across these pages. As the proprietor and operator of Sport Trucks by Dean in Moorpark, California, Mr. Sears is no stranger to killer rides and earns his bread and butter making others' customizing dreams come true. When Dean is not going wild with the welder or putting rides in the air or on the ground, he and his family are turning heads on the ramp and the water with this sizzling custom setup.

Starting with the tow rig, Dean marched down to his local Bow Tie merchant and picked up an '04 Chevy 2500 HD 4x4 drenched in arrest-me red. With just a few miles on the odometer and dealer plates still in check, Dean put the truck up on the rack and cranked the stance up 10 inches with a California Super Trucks suspension lift. Capping off the Chevy's fresh nosebleed altitude are 20x10-inch Billet Specialties Chicayne 8 spools stuffed into Toyo 38x15.50-20 Open Country Mud-Terrains. For excess towing capabilities, the rear suspension was fitted with Deaver military leaves and Firestone AirFlex rear load 'bags that keep things firm when the boat is hooked. Up front, ride control is regulated by Fox 2.0 reservoir shocks that provide smooth cruising when Dean takes this custom setup down the highway. Now that this cranked-up river limo was standing tall, it was time to toss some custom love onto the exterior.

To set the smooth exterior scenery, Dean began with the addition of a Street Scene Chevy SS-style front bumper and completed the facial attractions with Trenz billet grille inserts. At the tail end, the factory rear bumper was pitched to the trash and replaced with a smoothed and paint-matched Street Scene SS-style rear bumper. With the simple alterations made, the truck was hauled to Soncy Road Body Shop in Amarillo, Texas, where owner Mark Warrich flowed a little traditional hot rod flair on the factory basecoat. The Escalade door handle buckets were color coded to blend into the retina-burning backdrop, and a traditional set of hot licks were taped out over the hood, fenders, and front doors to add an artful blaze to the contemporary mix. Once the burn patterns were mapped out, the flames were ignited with House of Kolor White, Sunset, and Tangelo pearls and highlighted with Process Blue pinstriping. With a rocking retro inferno crackling over the factory topcoat, Mark sealed the fiery blaze in with PPG clear and cut and buffed the truck for maximum shine. After the HD's sizzling paintwork was laid down, the truck was shipped back to Cali for interior and audio tricks.

Martins Upholstery in Chatsworth, California, transformed the factory cockpit into a custom comfort zone filled with subtle, smooth style. Starting with the factory seating, the pilot and passenger platforms were updated with graphite leather and Katzkin carbon-fiber inserts. The door panels and headliner received a dose of black suede to boost the inside class factor, while various dash plastics were pulled and coated in red to tie the bright exterior into the cockpit stylings. Contributing some intense sounds to go along with the cabin sights, Audio Concepts in Simi Valley, California, loaded out the interior with a host of high-powered audio goods. AC's installation experts Link Ahlers and Jose Herrera started with an Alpine VA-D900 AM/FM/XM/DVD 7-inch LCD in-dash head unit and fueled the audio fire with Diamond Audio M661 6-1/2-inch mid-bass drivers in the front doors. Up top in the factory door panels lie Diamond Audio M641 4-inch midrange speakers complemented by Diamond Audio tweeters in the upper dash pillars. In back, Diamond Audio M661 6-1/2-inch mids rock in the doors and fire close to the bass thunder pouring out of the two Diamond Audio M6mkII 12-inch subwoofers sunken into a custom box behind the rear seat. Driving the heart-pounding ensemble to superb performance are two Diamond Audio D7104 4-channel amps powering the component speakers and one Diamond Audio D7401 mono amp pushing the woofers. The cab was stuffed with Scosche Hyperflex sound-damping material to keep external noises away from the audio experience. Power comes from Scosche EFX cabling and wiring accessories. For a bit of extra mobile entertainment, two Vizualogic 7-inch LCD headrest monitors provide rear-seat visual spice.

Setting his sights on the water rocket trailing the sky-scraping daily driver, this custom truck and hot rod builder went straight to the top when purchasing his lake transportation. Dean's '02 28-foot Conquest deck boat cat hull is stuffed with a plethora of speed and style tricks sure to whet any custom boat junkie's appetite. Between the stringers of this 14-passenger family hot rod lies a 540ci electronic fuel-injected big-block Bow Tie mill sending 600 hp to the water through a Bravo 1 XR drive and 26-pitch propeller. Exhaust exits through CMI headers and the rumble is muffled by Gibson mufflers. When the throttle is pinned, the tachometer needle rises into the 5,500-rpm range, and the boat reaches a top speed of 75 mph loaded up with the whole Sears crew. Privileged passengers are cradled by custom seating from Avalon Interiors featuring white marine vinyl complemented by red-inlaid stripes. A watchful eye is kept on the engine's vital signs through Gaffrig custom gauges housed in red, anodized bezels, while the deck and gunnel surfaces are trimmed with matching billet accents. A white hull lined out with red, blue, and green graphics makes this pleasure rocket highly visible on the water and a standout at the dock. If you can't see this wake-pounder coming, it will definitely be heard with the all-out audio system radiating from the open cockpit. Audio Concepts in Simi Valley, California, equipped the boat with two 15-inch JL Audio subwoofers, two PPI amplifiers, eight 8-inch two-way MB Quarts component sets, and a Sony head unit for maximum cruising and idling entertainment. Scosche wiring and connectors deliver the juice supplied by Optima batteries. Not only does Dean's boat look amazing in the water, its presence on the Zieman triple-axle trailer is no sight for sore eyes either. Dean laced the bright-red hauler with chrome fenders and a trio of 17x7-inch Billet Specialties Chicayne billet rollers encased in Nitto P225/50R17 rubber for bold impact.

Dean Sears has crafted one stunning custom river rig and definitely has himself an impressive arsenal of big boys toys. So you better plan on bringing your A game to the ramp this summer 'cause Dean's toys are going to blow some folks out of the water.